I wanted to bring your attention to an article I am writing for the May issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine, about co-location of biodiesel production at ethanol plants. Only a handful of projects or fewer have been officially announced, including Patriot Renewable Fuels and Adkins Energy, both in Illinois. Does this say something about the powerful lure state incentives have on attracting new biodiesel construction? WB Services is the technology provider for the Adkins Energy plant. They are installing a flexible process that can go back and forth between conventional acid esterification/base transesterification and enzymatic production. On the other hand, Patriot has contracted with Jatrodiesel, as I’ve written about before. This design is the first supercritical installation for Jatrodiesel. Speaking of supercritical methods, check out this article about University of Louisiana Lafayette professor Thomas Junk and his supercritical method using alligator fat as feedstock.

I also want to bring your attention to a webinar Biodiesel Magazine is producing May 8 at 2 p.m. Central time, on the topic of co-locating biodiesel production at ethanol plants. Here is the synopsis:

Commercializing Biodiesel Production at Ethanol Plants

For years, the idea of co-locating biodiesel processing at ethanol plants where distillers corn oil (DCO) is extracted has been appealing, but despite the obvious benefits of such a scheme, the concept just never materialized—until now. Multiple ethanol plants have announced plans to contract installation of biodiesel processing units on-site, taking advantage of co-location economics to produce low-cost biodiesel from DCO while having the option of using ethanol instead of methanol as the alcohol reactant. Hear from ethanol producers who have pulled the trigger on this economical approach to biodiesel production as they discuss considerations in selecting a technology partner, market conditions that have given way to co-location initiation, and the economics behind their decisions; and from biodiesel technology providers who have finally penetrated this sought-after market.

Our marketing efforts will begin soon. I hope you plan to attend. I will be moderating the webinar, and three speakers have already confirmed. Those include Raj Mosali with Jatrodiesel; Ron Beemiller with WB Services; and Ray Baker with Adkins Energy.